05 June 2017, Sweetcrude, Houston — The local and international financial market products and services update.
NIGERIA: Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, on Friday said available statistics shows that Nigeria is getting out of recession. She said, “I think we are getting out of recession, all the statistics seems to suggest that but more importantly, we are getting on the part of the growth that will be sustainable so we can see a future for Nigeria. “So, I think it is getting better,” the minister said. Mrs. Adeosun argued that the Muahammadu Buhari administration inherited several problems when it took office, many of which serve as impediments to attaining its goals of facilitating development across every sector of the nation. In spite of the challenges, the nation was getting on the path of sustainable growth, she said.
FX: Last week, CBN sold an estimated amount of $482.6m via its auctions and FX allocations to banks. For the first time since it has issued new FX policy in February 2017, CB allocated forward tenor exceeding 60-days as reserves are showing the impact of interventions.
FIXED INCOME: The t-bill market rallied for the fourth straight session, despite CBN’s attempts to mop up the excess liquidity in the money market. Bonds closed flat last week as there wasn’t much movement along the yield curve. CBN issued 14dec17 and 24may18 bills again and the subscription was better because of 64bn OMO bill maturity yesterday, CBN sold 3bn and 78bn respectively. The overnight rate remained stable at 12% to close the week.
U.K.: British manufacturing growth remains strong, with exports up and companies positive about prospects for the rest of 2017, a survey shows. The EEF employers’ organisation, which said companies’ recruitment plans are healthy, raised its manufacturing growth forecasts for 2017 and 2018. The survey, compiled by accountancy firm BDO, said demand from European markets was particularly strong. Despite Brexit fears and the election, confidence is high, the EEF said. The quarterly survey said that demand in European markets “looks especially buoyant”, with 61% of companies surveyed reporting an upturn. The balance between firms planning to recruit and those contracting stood at 21% during the quarter, up from 18% in the previous three months.
U.S.A.: US employers added fewer jobs than expected in May, but the unemployment rate dipped further as the economy headed toward full employment. The unemployment rate last month was 4.3%, falling a 10th of a percentage point to its lowest level since 2001, the US Labour Department said on Friday. But payrolls increased by just 138,000. Economists had expected growth of more than 180,000. Official job creation figures for March and April were also revised down.
COMMODITIES: Brent crude slid under $50 a barrel on Friday and was heading for a second consecutive week of losses as concerns about growing USD supply dominated oil market sentiment. The global Benchmark slipped as low as $48.95 a barrel at one point before paring losses to stand 64 cents lower at $49.96 in late trading.